Brain Beats Brawn
by Astra H. Lowelle
Summary: Harry Hook has a gift for Uma, but Gil intercepts it and attempts to pass it off as his own. Rated T for blood, otherwise it'd be K-Plus. This fanfic is a gift in three parts for my dear friend Cadenza Pearl, in honor of her birthday.
1. Part the First

Harry Hook, son of James Hook, stood on the pier of the Isle of the Lost, clutching a small box tightly in his hand. He had been the first mate of Uma, daughter of Ursula, for a long time; but he felt it was time for a little change in their relationship.

With a measured, unhurried tread, he sauntered past fishermen and young kids, all who scrambled out of his way as he passed. Harry allowed a smirk to curl his mouth as he stroked his hook lightly. Life was good.

"Hey, Harry!"

Harry sighed inwardly. Gil, son of Gaston, was hurrying toward him, grinning.

"Whatcha got there, Harry?" he inquired, coming to stop beside his acquaintance and nearly tipping a little girl into the choppy waves below. She squeaked and drew out of the way.

"Nothing to concern you," Harry replied coolly. "Now if you'll excuse me..."

"Is that a gift?" Gil interrupted, snatching the box from Harry's hand. "What's in it? Who's it for? _Wow_!"

He opened the box. Nestled on pale green tissue paper lay a gold charm bracelet, with a tiny golden seashell, a tiny golden hook, and a golden filigree heart connecting them.

"Freshly stolen," Harry drawled. "It'll see you later, Gil."

He tried to take back the box, but Gil held on, a slight frown between his eyebrows.

"You're planning to give this to Uma, right?"

"Brilliant deduction," Harry sighed. "Hand it over."

"No," Gil retorted, a grin sliding onto his face. " _I'll_ give it to her. She likes me better than you, anyway."

 _"Seriously?"_ Harry made a grab for the little box, but Gil hauled off and punched him hard in the face. Harry howled as blood began to stream out of his nose.

Like his father, Harry Hook had a very strong aversion to the sight of his own blood. Gil wasn't to know that, of course, but it didn't change the fact.


	2. Part the Second

Harry crashed backwards onto the deck, trying frantically to stem the blood flooding down his chin and over his shirt as Gil sauntered off, the little box held tightly in his large hand.

"Hey, Uma!" Gil called over to a large ship, from which Uma stepped down to meet him. Harry's vision began to spin; he felt woozy and sick.

"I've got a gift for you! It's freshly stolen!"

Gil's proud voice seemed to be fading in and out of the black haze fogging Harry's head. _Pirates don't faint,_ he told himself fiercely. _Pirates don't faint._

Unfortunately, his method of instruction wasn't exactly working.

He heard footsteps, and then someone grabbed his blood-soaked collar and hauled him to his feet.

"Harry, you idiot," admonished Uma, shaking the fistful of collar so Harry stumbled. On her wrist, the gold bracelet chimed lightly. "You've been my first mate for this long, and you still need a go-between to give me a gift?"

Over her shoulder, even with his vision sliding in and out of focus, Harry could see Gil looking horrified.

"No- Uma! The bracelet was from _me!_ "

"Then why does it say 'Freshly Stolen, Love Harry' underneath?" Uma demanded. "Come on, loser," she added to Harry, just as he felt himself going slack. "Let's go get you cleaned up, and then-"

Harry didn't hear the last part. Nose still dripping blood, his head lolled forward onto his chest and he fainted.


	3. Part the Third

A swaying and a wetness on his face jolted Harry into consciousness. He was lying across a bed in a ship's cabin, his bloodied shirt hanging over a chair in the corner and an unfamiliar jacket in its place. A short but powerfully built boy was bent over him, a wet rag in his hand.

"Hello," the boy said amiably. "I'm Sammy. Captain Uma sent me down here. I'm supposed to bring you upstairs. The captain wants a word."

"Right," Harry said woozily. "Yeah, I'll be right up."

"My dad told me your dad was also hemophobic," Sammy informed him. "Guess it's hereditary, huh?"

"I guess so."

"Well, I've got to get back upstairs. I'm on lookout duty again. See you later, matey!"

Sammy saluted and left the cabin. Harry pulled himself up off the bed and ascended to the upper deck.

Uma was standing at the edge, holding onto the railing and looking out over the sea. Salty breezes swept her turquoise braids lightly as she turned around.

"Hey, Harry."

"What does my captain wish of me?" Harry inquired, sweeping off his hat and bowing low. Uma removed her own hat and rapped him with it.

"Harry," she said seriously as he straightened, "did you really ask Gil to be a go-between?"

"No!" Harry protested. "He took the box from me!"

"I thought it would be something like that," Uma said offhandedly. "He's stronger than you. But he didn't think to take out the note, did he?"

"Brain beats brawn, my dear," Harry drawled, taking Uma's wrist with the bracelet and lightly flicking the heart connecting the seashell and the hook. Uma didn't pull away.

"You could say that," she replied. "But not always."

"Enough times."

Harry pulled Uma closer. Another sea breeze wafted past the ship, tousling his hair to perfection and flapping Uma's braids into his face. Uma laughed.

"You're not a bad first mate, Harry."

"I know," Harry murmured into her hair. "But I'm bad everywhere else."

Uma smiled as she tilted her face up to Harry's, who dipped down to meet her. "You aren't bad at this."

.

The sun set slowly over the Isle of the Lost, silhouetting blackly against the darkening sky a pair of figures on the deck of a ship- a captain and her first mate, a son of Hook and a daughter of Ursula, a girl and a boy simply sharing a tender moment as the ship cut smoothly through the waters of a sea gently distorting the reflections of the stars.


End file.
